In the past year alone, millions of American drivers have been affected by recalls — and some of the world’s biggest automakers have been embarrassed by them.
The recent Takata air bag recall has affected 7.8 million vehicles and stemmed from a defect that caused at least four deaths and dozens of injuries. General Motors has had a record number of recalls this year, including a faulty ignition switch in 2.6 million cars.
As a result of these incidents, vehicle shoppers are perhaps more leery of car companies than they’ve ever been.
The researchers at iSeeCars.com recently looked into which cars have been the worst in terms of average recalls over the past seven model years. The study analyzed the 35 most widely available cars for sale from the 2007 to 2013 model years — totalling 10 million vehicles.
“Recalls are of course detrimental to the safety of the driver and car’s occupants, but they also represent a huge headache for consumers,” said Phong Ly, CEO of iSeeCars, in the introduction to its study on the subject.
The study also took into account how much time would be lost by affected drivers, having to visit the dealership and get problems fixed. The Chevrolet Cruze topped the list, with an average of 4.8 recalls (14.4 hours lost), according to iSeeCars. For comparison’s sake, the Ford Focus and Honda Civic each experienced less than one recall on average.
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Clint Davis is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @MrClintDavis.
